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135Xe measurements with a two-element CZT-based radioxenon detector for nuclear explosion monitoring

Journal Article · · Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). School of Nuclear Science and Engineering; Oregon State University
  2. Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States). School of Nuclear Science and Engineering
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Measurement of elevated concentrations of xenon radioisotopes (131mXe, 133mXe, 133Xe and 135Xe) in the atmosphere has been shown to be a very powerful method for verifying whether or not a detected explosion is nuclear in nature. These isotopes are among the few with enough mobility and with half-lives long enough to make their detection at long distances realistic. Existing radioxenon detection systems used by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) suffer from problems such as complexity, need for high maintenance and memory effect. To study the response of CdZnTe (CZT) detectors to xenon radioisotopes and investigate whether it is capable of mitigating the afore-mentioned issues with the current radioxenon detection systems, a prototype detector utilizing two coplanar CZT detectors was built and tested at Oregon State University. The detection system measures xenon radioisotopes through beta-gamma coincidence technique by detecting coincidence events be-tween the two detectors. Here in this paper, we introduce the detector design and report our measurement results with radioactive lab sources and 135Xe produced in the OSU TRIGA reactor. Minimum Detectable Concentration (MDC) for 135Xe was calculated to be 1.47 ± 0.05 mBq/m3.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Grant/Contract Number:
NA0002534
OSTI ID:
1367561
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1419102
OSTI ID: 22706277
OSTI ID: 1487104
Journal Information:
Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity Journal Issue: C Vol. 169-170; ISSN 0265-931X
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Figures / Tables (13)

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Related Subjects

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Beta-gamma coincidence
CZT
Coplanar detector
Digital pulse processing Digital pulse processing
Nuclear explosion monitoring
Radioxenon detection